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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25997041">another lesson yet to learn</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/'>Anonymous</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Various Discord Server Fics [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, No excuse, Skyrates, haha - Freeform, yeah - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 03:07:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,850</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25997041</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ghet swallows. As the only witness left, he supposes it’s up to him. “Havok used,” he begins, has to stop and clear his throat. “Havok used his charmspeak to make Khio - to -”</p><p>“Is he hurt?” Fizz asks redundantly, eyes wide. </p><p>Ghet doesn’t know. “I don’t know.”</p><p>Lesia moves, then, scoops Khio into her arms so effortlessly it’s frightening. “You can tell us later,” she says, and with a dry laugh, asks, “where’s the first aid kit?”</p><p>Like a bandaid will help Khio now.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Various Discord Server Fics [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2031769</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Anonymous, Skyrates from Knowhere</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>another lesson yet to learn</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khio/gifts">Khio</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I did this so dirty I’m so sorry khio please aaa</p><p>Characterization is bad I am certain please forgive me. Fizz I butchered you. Ghet i desecrated ur pov hel p</p><p>Anyway. Here’s wonderwall</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“We’re out of food,” Saph says to him one day. </p><p>She whispers, like sound doesn’t carry, like they’re not all clumped in the chilly common room, like they can’t all hear.</p><p>“What’s new?” Havok says back, trying to sound lighthearted. “What’s new?”</p><p>The new girl - Fizz - paces the floor in front of them. Is it just him, or does she look a little guilty? Maybe she should. Maybe they shouldn’t have let her on. </p><p>Maybe they shouldn’t have let any of them on. Havok stops that train of thought in its tracks, refuses to let it linger.</p><p>“Do we stop?” Saph asks, distasteful already; he knows her opinion on docking anywhere for too long. </p><p>Mis hums from behind him. “We don’t need to stop. We can find a market.” </p><p>“There’s no markets for sectors,” Lesia calls, not even looking up from her book. “Only one colony we’ll reach in time.” </p><p>Havok knows enough about her by now to trust that if he were to check the nav, he’d find her statement exactly right.</p><p>“Can’t you magic some food to us?” Khio pipes up. “Open up that space rift, or whatever you do.”</p><p>“No,” Lesia says simply, and doesn’t elaborate.</p><p>“Great,” Khio says, looking a little unsettled. “You want to watch us all starve, then?”</p><p>Lesia acts like she hadn’t heard. Maybe she hadn’t. Something dark flashes in her eyes.</p><p>Fizz stops pacing, leans in towards Havok. “She could,” she says quietly. “You could make her.”</p><p>Havok closes his eyes. Opens them again. “I’m not going to do that.”</p><p>“You heard Khio. We’ll starve.”</p><p>Havok stands, almost cracking Saph in the jaw with his shoulder. “We’re going to the colony,” he announces. “Mis, do we have enough to get there?”</p><p>Mis stares. Havok wonders, not for the first time, if they’re going to argue. The room is frozen - Ghet looks rather like he’s trying to teleport into the floor.</p><p>“Yeah,” they say, finally. Havok does not let his relieved breath escape. “We’re leaving now.”</p><p>Fizz follows them out of the common room, gloves pulled tight over her fingers. She stops him with a hand on his shoulder before he can make it to the bridge - Saph looks back but doesn’t wait for him - Mis halts and hovers in the doorway.</p><p>“I don’t understand,” Fizz says too self-righteously for the amount of time she’s been here, “why you won’t do the best thing for us. The right thing.”</p><p>Havok shakes his head, clenches his hands on the console. “It’s not the right thing.”</p><p>“Why not?” she asks. “One word, and we eat for months, we don’t have to risk our lives for the sake of your cowardice -”</p><p>Havok laughs. “Cowardice.”</p><p>Mis shifts uncomfortably, speaks up from their position just within earshot. “Listen, it’s not -”</p><p>“Lesia wouldn’t mind,” Fizz continues. Is that another guily side-look? “She’s just being stubborn. It’s a power play. She knows none of us can make her. And clearly, she knows you won’t, either.”</p><p>“She wouldn’t mind if I told her not to,” Havok says. “And you wouldn’t be so upset about this if I told you not to be.”</p><p>Fizz blinks. “Is that a threat?”</p><p>“Guys,” Mis says. </p><p>“I’m not using my powers,” Havok snaps. Has his heart always been beating this fast? </p><p>“Fine!” Fizz says with a sad attempt at contempt. “When we all get shot, I’ll be sure to feel better because we kept your morals intact.”</p><p>She’s afraid, Havok realizes - outnumbered, new, hungry. He watches her go, bright orange scarf fading to black in the dark of the hallway.</p><p>“Alright,” Mis mutters, and motions him into the cabin. “Come on. We’ve got a colony to find.”</p><p>Seven hours of tense silence later, the colony comes into sight. Havok leaves Mis at the helm while Saph calls the crew to the deck.</p><p>“Ghet,” Havok says. The boy looks up with wide eyes, still jumpy even after a few months on board. “You should come with us, in case we need a quick exit.”</p><p>Ghet nods. Khio shuffles beside him. “If he’s going, can I go too?”</p><p>Saph shrugs. “Why not? Field trip.” It’s dry, but Khio takes it at face value, giving an accepting half-smile.</p><p>“Fizz, stay here,” Havok decides. She looks a mixture between disappointed and relieved. He doesn’t linger on it. “Lesia, stay here.”</p><p>Lesia smirks, and before he can blink, she’s disappeared back down the stairs.</p><p>“Ghet, Khio, you, me,” Saph says. She’s tense, pulled tight, and Havok knows this will not go well. The last thing he sees before the bay doors close is Fizz’s crossed arms, uncertain scowl painted defensively across her face.</p><p>~</p><p>
  <i>In hindsight, the irony is almost crippling.</i>
</p><p>~</p><p>They don’t have enough money. They realize this one purchase too late. </p><p>And, well, stealing has never been taken lightly.</p><p>Especially not in Las Vegas.</p><p>~</p><p>Ghet, having already taken the bag of potatoes back to the ship, rematerializes just in time to hear the shopkeeper shout their name and ship registry number into his comm. </p><p>Khio looks lost, petrified in the confrontation - Havok’s jaw clenches in time with Saph’s rapid-fire shouting. They don’t have weapons. They don’t even have food.</p><p>Ghet thinks once about disappearing before anyone notices he’s here. </p><p>He then thinks about the way Khio’s hands are shaking, and masks his indecision with a faux trip into his side.</p><p>“Hey there,” Khio mutters anxiously, righting him in a counterintuitively unsteady grip.</p><p>The shopkeeper laughs, points down the street. “They’re coming,” he sneers. “You won’t get away.”</p><p>“Run,” Saph shouts instinctively, whirls. Her eyes lock on Ghet. “You! Get us out of here -”</p><p>“It’s too late,” Havok says, high-pitched. “They’ve got our ship in their sights. They know what we look like, did you see their air defenses? We won’t make it a hundred feet -”</p><p>Military precision as always. Ghet pays him no mind, only focused on the three powered running towards them faster than should be possible, on their guns that look like they could disintegrate bedrock.</p><p>Khio’s already grabbing on to him. Ghet reaches out and locks his fingers around Saph’s arm and the collar of Havok’s shirt.</p><p>They stumble back onto the deck of the ship, Khio groans, Saph yelps as her foot catches on a loose floorboard. </p><p>Mis pokes their head out from the cabin. “What’s -”</p><p>“Go,” Saph gasps. “Drive away, drive away!” Mis doesn’t hesitate. </p><p>Ghet fights his way out of Khio’s arms, backs up, breathing hard.</p><p>Saph runs after Mis. Khio stands frozen on the deck. Havok -</p><p>Havok’s gaze is locked on Khio. His teeth dig into his lower lip. Ghet can almost figure out what’s going on before it happens. </p><p>But he doesn’t, and with something like tears in his eyes, Havok opens his mouth and talks.</p><p>“Khio,” he begins. “Listen to me.”</p><p>Khio’s head snaps up instantly. Ghet thinks he might be sick.</p><p>“Come to the window.” Havok smiles, nicely, calmly. Khio does so without question. There’s something in his voice, something unnatural - and even though it’s not aimed at him, Ghet has to dig his feet into the floor to keep from moving. </p><p>“Do you see those people in that tower?” Havok asks. “Do you see the weapons they’re pointing at us?”</p><p>“Yessir,” Khio says, monotone. </p><p>“Use your abilities to keep them from shooting at us,” Havok says. “Whatever is necessary.”</p><p>Khio’s hands come up to rest on the glass. His face twitches, uncertain - for a moment, Ghet thinks he might be able to withstand it. Mis shouts in triumph from the bridge, the docking clamps release with a thunk that shakes the deck, but Ghet knows by the time they start running they’ll be shot out of the sky. </p><p>“Do it,” Havok says, stronger.</p><p>It only takes a few more seconds before the defense tower explodes in fireworks of gunfire.</p><p>Ghet covers his ears. Saph’s howl of surprise makes it through his fingers anyway. The horrible, horrible sound of concrete tearing -</p><p>The ship starts moving. Behind them, smoke billows into the air. </p><p>~</p><p>Havok doesn’t speak again until Las Vegas is out of sight. </p><p>“Jailbreak,” he says, instantly snaps his mouth closed.</p><p>Khio’s eyes roll back into his head. He crumbles. Fizz, who must have run up from the basement when Ghet wasn’t looking, gasps with an aborted motion to catch him. She wears no gloves. </p><p>Khio hits the ground hard. </p><p>“What happened?” Lesia monotones from out of nowhere.</p><p>Instead of answering, Havok shakes his head - with a horrible, horrible inhale, he turns and runs down the stairs.</p><p>Ghet swallows. As the only witness left, he supposes it’s up to him. “Havok used,” he begins, has to stop and clear his throat. “Havok used his charmspeak to make Khio - to -”</p><p>“Is he hurt?” Fizz asks redundantly, eyes wide. </p><p>Ghet doesn’t know. “I don’t know.”</p><p>Lesia moves, then, scoops Khio into her arms so effortlessly it’s frightening. “You can tell us later,” she says, and with a dry laugh, asks, “where’s the first aid kit?”</p><p>Like a bandaid will help Khio now.</p><p>~</p><p>Fizz finds him in the infirmary.</p><p>It’s dark - it’s almost midnight, after all, everyone should be asleep. No one is. </p><p>Mis is clanging something large around in the engine room, above him he can hear Saph and Ghet speaking in low tones. Lesia is the only one not here, but Fizz doesn’t think she’s seen her sleep once since she arrived.</p><p>“Knock knock,” comes her voice, and Havok flinches. </p><p>“Yeah,” he mutters, hoarse. “Come in.”</p><p>She does, taking a seat beside him. She props her hands on her knees, stares at Khio’s still form on the bed. “Is he going to make it?”</p><p>Havok nods. “Saph said he’ll be fine. Lesia, too. Just needs to get his energy back.”</p><p>“What happened?”</p><p>“Pushed him too far,” Havok says. “Too much at once.”</p><p>“I heard,” Fizz says. “Something to do with an illusion? Got one of the people on the dock to fire on their own weapons system?”</p><p>“Yep.” Havok’s head drops into his hands. “Yeah. Those guns are something.”</p><p>“Khio’s powerful,” Fizz muses. “Must have been a hell of an illusion.”</p><p>And when she looks over, Havok’s crying.</p><p>She stutters for a second, uncertain - doesn’t quite know what to do. </p><p>“About before,” she decides on saying. “I didn’t - I didn’t really understand.” </p><p>She thinks that she does, now. She looks down at her hands and wonders how she’d ever thought he was any different from her.</p><p>“Sure.” Havok forces out. “Yeah. It’s fine. Ended up the same way, anyway.”</p><p>“Khio’s less likely to kill you in your sleep.”</p><p>Havok barks a laugh, immediately swings back to sobbing. It’s silent, the way he cries - his shoulders barely shake, but his voice is ragged and tears are already streaking down his cheeks. “I’m sorry,” he chokes, attempting to wipe his eyes.</p><p>He looks embarrassed. Fizz wants him to know he doesn’t have to be. </p><p>She picks at a loose thread on her gloves and doesn’t say anything.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Havok says again, and it’s dark in the infirmary, and Khio still doesn’t move, and Fizz realizes that he hadn’t been talking to her.</p>
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